The other day I heard The Temporary Funding Patch Pattern in Congress by Kai Ryssdal for Marketplace. Mr. Ryssdal—whose show often feels like an exemplar of “the dumbing down of America” but really isn’t, mostly—talks with reporter Darren Samuelsohn about budget crises, one after another. The story sent my mind off, albeit in a slightly different direction.

I don’t know who gets credit for the first advertisement/meme which alluded to your family budget as a simile for the federal budget. “You don’t spend what you don’t have, so why should Washington?” is probably close to some of these messages, and we’ve been hearing them for so long that they go mostly unchallenged.*

The family budget analogy drives me effing nutso.

Believe it or not, what with all of the noise—and so much of it is just that, noise—about the 2016 elections, we have a substantial number of elections in the Tucson metro area on November 3, 2015. I don’t often comment on local matters, but I’m making an exception tonight/today.

Before I proceed, I need to bring up name-dropping. You’ll see references to several people in my comments, along with disclosures about my relationships. I’m not bragging on who I know, truly. Because I’m a lawyer ethics jock, I don’t have it in me not to disclose any and all information someone ought to know.

The Tucson City Council has three seats on the ballot, and Mayor Jonathan Rothschild is

Dr. Ben Carson want to be President of the United States. He will not be elected, but the very fact that he polls in the top three among Republican candidates should have every thinking American worried. Very worried! (Of course, in 1956 a woman told presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson he had the vote of every thinking American. “That’s not enough, madam, we need a majority!”)

Deciding where to begin with Dr. Carson challenges me. Alas, two comments about guns in the past couple of weeks carry the day.

After the Oregon community-based college campus shooting, Dr. Carson said “I would not just stand there and let him shoot me,” to which he added, “I would say, ‘Hey guys,

Reports have just hit, in the last few minutes, that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Cal.) is no longer seeking election as Speaker of the House of Representatives. If Speaker John Boehner’s announcement that he was quitting was an atomic bomb, this notice amounts to a meteor, landing on New York City. I know this crew claims it knows how to govern, but all of the evidence suggests a contrary conclusion. Frightening times!

I’m not predicting anything, but I won’t be shocked if Speaker Boehner announces a change in plans. We may be looking at no changes for a while.

I’m embarrassed and ashamed of myself for being so late to the issue of guns. You all have seen—and maybe read—400+ posts over almost 20 months, and I don’t think I’ve devoted 700 words to guns. Guns, from April 9, 2014, is my only piece which focuses on the subject. I also discussed the issue in Writer’s Block? Explained. from back in May of this year, but my reasons for not dealing with the issue seem lame to say the least.

That changes now! The topic deserves attention, and I’m done feeling cowed by those people who think the problem we have is a shortage of guns and too many restrictions. (By the way, being cowed is a feeling